Review of Rio Rancho, New Mexico


Better than Albuquerque, but not by much
Star Rating - 3/11/2006
Rio Rancho is a better city than Albuquerque, but by no means is it perfect. First of all, the teacher-student ratio is WRONG! It's more like 24:1! All of the schools in the district are overcrowded. The superintendent is short-sighted and is more interested in lobbying the legislature in Santa Fe than running the district.

Rio Rancho has the worst voter apathy in the state. Only 18% of registered voters voted in the last municipal election, 3/7/06. Police officers, fire fighters and emergency workers are all over-worked. There are not enough to handle the explosive growth in Rio Rancho.

Developers can build as many houses as they want and are not required to build schools, donate land for schools or provide any infrastructure. The impact fees the city charges are laughable! It's not nearly enough to cover the number of people moving into town.

Overall, Rio Rancho is getting too big too fast. The city council is pretty ineffective in governing the city and the mayor's position is largely ceremonial.

Keep in mind that New Mexico has the largest drunk driving problem in the country. You are more likely to be hit and killed by a drunk driver here than anywhere else!
Judith | Rio Rancho, NM
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1 Replies


Wrong! Now, I'm not defending Rio Rancho (far from it, this whole state is insane and I hate suburbs - better than Albuquerque? puh-lease!) but, I am defending the truth. New Mexicans don't know their own state. Its a generalization but after living here for a few months and being of an inquisitive disposition, this is the conclusion I have formed. Specifically, right now, I'm referring to the drunk driving problem here. Yes, it's part of the culture. Big roads and spread-out population with absolutely no public transit or walkability infrastructure will do that. However, I checked a couple of studies (from MADD and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and NM isn't even a top ten offender in this respect. The 2007 study done by MADD found it to be the 11th BEST state for drunk driving, based on a low fatality rate and strong laws, and commented it hasn't been bad here for more than a decade. I don't think I would encourage most people to move here unless you're retired or complacent, but get your facts straight people.
mj3billion | Winnetka, CA | Report Abuse
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